Game 25 pregame: Don’t think anyone will catch pants on fire Saturday

The 1973 World Series champion A's take the field during a pregame ceremony Saturday at O.co Coliseum.

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The Baltimore Sun had an interesting nugget in its postgame notes from Friday.

According to the Sun, the bat boy in the Orioles’ dugout Friday night stood too close to the heater — was it really that cold? — and his pants caught fire.

Once the Orioles realized the lad was not hurt, they started cracking up.

They laughed so hard that manager Buck Showalter said he wasn’t sure everyone would be able to go out in the field in the ninth inning, the Sun reported.

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A’s manager Bob Melvin said Saturday that he isn’t sure Yoenis Céspedes, rehabbing at Triple-A Sacramento, would play the entire game Saturday night because he is due to return to Oakland for Sunday afternoon’s series finale agaist Baltimore.

The A’s clearly miss their big hitter, given that they have lost seven of their past eight games after a sizzling start.

Melvin noted that it’s pretty well-documented how well the A’s play with Céspedes in the lineup.

The A’s are honoring their 1973 World Series championship team in a pregame ceremony. Fans who arrived early were treated to video highlughts from the series narrated by the great former NBC announcer Curt Gowdy.

“This will be a special day, to have a world championship team here,” Melvin said. “I grew up here. Still have great feelings about those teams. It should be an exciting day.”

Melvin added that former A’s are always welcome.

“Ever since I’ve been here, I like to include these guys — whenever they’re at spring training, whenever they’re here,” the manager said. “You can’t help but feel good being around world champions. Whenever you’re around winners, sometimes it rubs off.”